Three Best Practices for Starting a Cannabusiness

Guest Article by Mike Wilson at Temeka Group

It’s an exciting time, you just got notice you’re license is affirmed and you’re going into business. It’s certainly time to celebrate, but more importantly, it’s time to plan your project, prepare your team, and implement ‘best practices’ in all you do from this point forward.

What does best practices really mean? How does it work and why is it important? Well, for starters, there are few, if any, retail industries that have more oversight and regulation than cannabis. To that end, best practices will prepare you and your operation to perform better in every aspect of your business operations. You will generate higher net-revenues than your competition, you will breeze through regulatory and compliance requirements, your staff will be top-tier extensions of your brand, and I could go on. Best practices is the logical endurance of doing things the right way the first time and every time. Let’s hit the basics at a high level.

Location/Site Selection

We have all heard the saying “location, location, location,“ but in cannabis it goes even deeper. Unless you’re sitting on significant amounts of liquid cash to invest in soft-costs and construction, it’s always better to pay a bit more for clean retail space needing less construction investment, but likely at a higher monthly lease rate, than lower cost space that needs a lot of work. By spreading the value of the enhanced space over several years (OpEx model in the higher rent example) you preserve your cash position and likely spend less money overall when you finally open.

Operations, Tech-Stack, and Banking

By using some of the bigger names in the cannabis design/build space, you will get this built-in and installed at the time construction is happening. So, when you’re done building, you’re ready to take sales. Best practices in this area means understanding the projected customer flow your retail maximized space can handle and then back-into the number of POS systems you will need to hit that target, the number of ATM machines (and at what volume) you will need, and how to tie all this together with your banking relationship, insurance relationship, employee attraction and retention tools and more. An important area that leading design/build firms include in the ‘design best practices’ plan from day 1, not months later after you’re having issues.

Daily Operations

Whis leans heavily into the tech-stack that does everything from training the customer about the flower, to helping them process their own orders online for quick pick-up. Best practices of a well designed retail space will ensure safety for your customers, your employees, your inventory and even your sanity. Don’t cut corners in this area, the risks are too high and strategic best practices don’t actually cost more, but simply take a little time to pair your dreams with the industry leaders who are currently building for the biggest and best known cannabis brands across the United State.

About the Author

Mike Wilson is a veteran entrepreneur as the founder & CEO of Temeka Group, an interior design and construction company serving international brands. Temeka Group was founded in 1991 and has grown into a world class market leading company. Mike has 32 years of experience helping major retail brands expand throughout the United States. In 2017, Mike transitioned his experience with jewelry stores to the cannabis industry, helping Temeka Group emerge as one of the top turn-key cannabis firms in the country. Temeka Group’s team has worked on over 340 dispensaries for more than 50 recognizable cannabis brands including Stiiizy, ASHE Society, Embarc, High Season, Cookies, Culture Cannabis Club, California Holisitics, and Cannabis 21+.

How GreenSpacePro Can Help

As you go forward, the team at GreenSpacePro look forward to working with you and for you in managing your assets, managing your workforce, helping you manage your compliance requirements and celebrating your successes with the best in class and best practices rooted software that gives you and your team 24/7 visibility over your key operating structures.

If you have any questions on any of this information or how you can implement best practices in your business, please feel free to give us a call or send an email. We’re here to help!

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